Ernest F.Fenollosa

We can not talk about the Boston Museum of Fine Arts without remembering Ernest F.Fenollosa. In the museum there have been reserved a lot of Japanese and Chinese fine arts and pottery handed over by Fenollosa in 1886. He had collected them taking many years during his long stay in Japan. There we can see many splendid Japanese paintings we can't in Japan now. Fenollosa was a great benefactor of Japanese painters and Japanese pictures, because in those days (early in the Meiji Era) Japanese people worshipped western things and disregarded old Japanese things. Therefore Japanese paintings didn't sell at all and Japanese painters were in poverty. Fenollosa appraised paintings drawn by Japanese painters and introduced their paintings home and abroad.

Fenollosa was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1853. He was sensitive by birth and got touchy to imagine as if some one had despised him despite no one did so. As a boy of 11 his mother's death made him more melancholic. Attending Hokkar grammar school, he entered a high school in preparation for Harvard University at the best record.

At Harvard University he had few friends but became a member of the glee club, and sang in chorus. Soon he became interested in philosophy and after reading Spencer's writings he joined establishing "Spencer Club". He was influenced by the thought of Hegel, who played an important role in forming his thought through Fenollosa's life.

He often contributed his poem to the magazine published in the university but no students noticed his poetical faculty until he recited his own poem in 1874. Some time he won the first prize at an oratory contest. He graduated from the department of philosophy at the best grade and as a result he got Parker Fellowship (scholarship) and chose course to get the doctor-ship of philosophy as he was in the position of special worker of the university. He entered Divinity School at Cambridge but soon left there.

He was interested in a new fine arts movement initiated by the Fine Art School affiliated to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. He took the course of sketch and drawings under the guidance of Emil Otto Grundmann.

In 1878 he was invited as professor of economics and philosophy at Tokyo University in the introduction of Edward S.Morse from Salem. Then the university was trying to raise the academic standard by the help of foreign teachers.

At the first lesson he taught at the university he felt himself melting into the Japanese students. Most of the students were senior to him. His first class produced leading scholars such as Tenshin Okakura, Shoyou Tsubouchi, Jirou Miyake, Sanae Takada and Nagao Ariga in a modern Japan. Because of that he was called "Daijin Sensei" meaning the Teacher of Great Men. He taught logic and aesthetic from 1878 to 1886. He took an interest in Japanese old fine arts and Chinese ones. That was the reason why the old fine arts of both countries had to be studied in parallel in Japan.

Fenollosa came to Japan at the time when they loved to westernize and disregarded Japanese tradition. They adopted western clothes and custom, and with the collapse of the Tokugawa regime most of Daimyo and aristocrats became badly off and at the low price sold their paintings, pottery, lacquer work, copper ware and books in manuscript, which are valuable today. The treasure of temples throughout Japan as well as private collection of old Japanese paintings and statues submitted to unfortunate fate.

It was a young American, Fenollosa that saved the valuable old things from their unfortunate fate. Only during his summer vacation, Fenollosa visited temples preserved old paintings in the country. The Japanese Government was ready to disburse all the expenses including a capable secretary and an interpreter for his research work.

In 1881 he established a small club for fine artists called "Kangakai" meaning appreciation of paintings, which hired the place for the meetings and art exhibitions. Fenollosa paid the expenses himself.

Hogai Kano(1828-1888), one of the greatest artists of Japan was stubborn, lofty, and unflattering with the current of the times. Fenollosa became acquainted with Hogai Kano and both of them made their minds to preserve the Japanese old paintings cooperatively each other.

In 1882 a kind of reaction of westernizing Japan had occurred among aristocrats and they asked Fenollosa to cooperate the establishment of a fine art society at an aristocratic club. At the meeting his speech, which was bold and provocative accused Japanese people of ignoring old Japanese paintings. They began to feel proud and interest in Japanese fine arts. It is natural that they should call him "Boddhisattva of Art".

The same year he started to study Noh play and found that there were something common between Noh play, and Greek classical drama and early European one. His Noh teacher was Minoru Umewaka, who was a Noh player on a retainer of Shogunate until the fall of Tokugawa regime in 1868.

In 1886 he took a post of director of Tokyo Fine Arts School and director of the fine arts department, teaching fine arts history and aesthetics at the Imperial Museum. Late in this year Fenollosa, a special committee of investigation of fine arts administration and education in Europe were dispatched abroad accompanied by two Japanese colleagues. Then they visited the main cities in Europe and bought back many pictures and books as reference materials used in Japan.

In 1887 they returned home and formally opened Tokyo Fine Arts School. Assigned to register the treasures of temples and shrines home, Fenollosa was staffed with nine Japanese specialists in fine arts and archaeology as his assistants. He made laws of the repair and subsidy of treasure. He had the greatest influence on Japan from 1886 to 1889. However, gradually he came to feel instinctively that there had come the time when Japanese people could do their own work by themselves.

In 1886 he handed over to Dr. G.C.Weld, Fenollosa's own collection of Japanese paintings on condition that the Boston Museum of Fine Arts would preserve them permanently. In 1890 Fenollosa became director of the Orient Fine Arts Section of the museum.

Fenollosa was given the highest order for foreigners by the Emperor Meiji, who said to him, "You educated my subjects the value of Japanese fine arts. I wish returning home, you will teach American people next time".

He worked at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts for five years and after that he became interested in the problem of fine arts education in America. That time when he devoted himself to improvement of art educational system in America, he made friends with a young artist, Arthur Wesley Dow worked together for a few years after that. For the first time in1892 he gave his lecture in Boston and his subject was "History, literature and fine art in China and Japan"

In spring of 1896 Fenollosa set out for Europe and reached Kyoto after staying Europe to study for a few months. Then few foreigners lived except Mr. and Mrs. Fenollosa there, whom Japanese artists, poets and religious people visited. Mr. and Mrs. Fenollosa would also visit their homes and temples. Fenollosa often called at the Mii temple along the Lake of Biwa to study religion through the archbishop. Fenollosa inspired by the thought of religion decided to continue to study hard. His study ranged from fine arts, religion, social studies, Noh dance to Chinese and Japanese poetry.

Fenollosa finished writing "Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art "on the basis of his lectures at the fine arts club and several groups and his contribution in the periodicals home and abroad.

Sept. 21,1908 Fenollosa suddenly passed away in London the previous night when he intended to leave for Japan. His "Epochs of Chinese and Japanese Art" was published by the help of Mrs.Fenollosa,Tomonobu Kano and Nagao Ariga after his death. His bone that had been buried at Highgate in London was transferred at the cemetery of Mii temple that Fenollosa had loved late in his life. The place is the most suitable for him to sleep forever.

E-mail matu-emk@mse.biglobe.ne.jp